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The Battle at Timberwatch
The Battle at Timberwatch took place about 300-400 years after the establishment of the 5 duchies, in the northern portion of the Duchy of Alshar. It was a critical battle which stemmed the invasion of the gurvani into the 5 duchies. The forces of Alshar, led by Spellmonger Minalan and Duke Lenguin, proved to be victorious over the forces of the gurvani, led by Sir Koucey and General Kagal Gharzak. Pre-Battle After it was determined that approximately 100,000 gurvani were invading the nothern portion of Alshar, Minalan the spellmonger and his warband of irionite-wielding warmagi began to gather their forces for their eventual battle with the goblin throng. They determined that the best location for a battlefield was a small castle north of Vorone, called Timberwatch. Minalan and his mage corps set their staging in area in a barn near the caste. There, Lanse of Bune, created a detailed mage-map of the battlefield. The battle was composed a steep slope on the north side with three causeways to descend. To the south, the human army set up camp around the castle of Timberwatch with kitchens, tents, latrines, and the makings of a mobile city. In the days leading up to the battle, the human forces began to build up defenses including 6 redoubts, trenches, various siege engines, and a trebuchet. Azar led a company of knights and magi north to meet and to slow down the invading army of goblins. He managed to slow down the army for 4 days. This would prove consequential for the upcoming battle. The Battle at Timberwatch The gurvani (standard goblins and hobglobins and some trolls) were positioned to the north, on top of the steep escarpment. The humans were staged in various locations. Nirodi archers filled the redoubts. 5,000 Alshari heavy calvary were stationed on the left flank. A second force of medium and light calvary screened the eastern side of the battlefield and two regiments of mercenary pikemen (a weak flank by design). And in the center was heavy infantry from Tudry, levies from Green Hill, and a mix of Meglini Knights, Hellriders, and Warbirds. Behind the front lines were 1000 Remeran crossbowmen. Also in the center were the core of the warmagi. Among those that participated at Tiimberwatch (but not necessarily fought) were Minalan, Astryal, Taren, Terleman, Azar, Mavone, Rondal, Tyndal, Penny, Wenek Horca, Cormoran, Carmella, Hesia, Curmor, Rustallo, Forondal, Bendonal, Sarakeem, Reylan, Isily and Lanse of Bune 1st Stage of the Battle The 1st stage of the battle consisted of the gurvani forces coming down the steep slope of the escarpment and facing the 6 redoubts with Nirodi archers. The humans utilized overlapping fields of fire to essentially curtail and bottle up the advance the enemy forces. Eventually, the gurvani began to huddle close together out of range of the archers. Then, the warmagi, huddled over Lanse of Bune's detailed diorama inside the barn near the castle. Then, working together, they summoned 3 massive earth elementals in the 3 causeways that transformed the 3 natural causeways into 50 foot cliffs and killing thousands of goblins as well. This act essentially split the goblin force in two. 2nd Stage of the Battle Next, the humans prepared to advance on the scrambling goblin forces. Carmella begin to use her trebuchet to launch volleys at the clustered gurvani. Over the course of the next several hours, light skirmishing persisted. Then Carmella began to launch pumpkins filled with honey and alcoholic spirits into the goblin forces. After saturating the ground, she then launched phosophorous into the mix, which ignited immediately upon hitting the ground. Then, Minalan began to harnass an enormous fire elemental right in the middle of the gurvani forces. For 45 minutes, the enormous fire elemental ravaged the gurvani forces, killing tens of thousands and wounding many more. The act would go down in history and forever changed people's perceptions of what a mage could do, especially in battle. After the elemental died down, the human forces advanced. However, Duke Lenguin believed this to be the time when to charge and drive the enemy from the battlefield. He took 300 of his cavalry, ignoring Minalan's orders, and quickly found himself surrounded. Minalan and several others were eventually able to rescue a bloodied and defeated Lenguin and hastily aided his retreat. 3rd Stage of the Battle By dawn, the remaining gurvani forces had pushed down the escarpment and flooded the battlefield. The human armies were forced to retreat back nearly to their camp. Then, Sheruel sent his most powerful weapon, a dragon. The dragon tore through the right flank of human forces, while the remaining goblins pressed the center. The fighting continued on the front lines for some time. Then, the Duke Rard of Castal, emerged with reinforcements. Minalan convinced Lenguin to greet Rard as friend and comrade, before turning his attention back to the battle of the dragon. Horka, Rustallo, Landrik and several other knights advance on the dragon and released an unknown spell. The spell consisted of purple fire which severely wounded the dragon's head and destroyed an eye. However, it did not kill the dragon, just forced it to flee. Then, Taren, released a special spell which caused blindness in the majority of the goblin forces. Seeing the mass of confusion and fear, the human forces then charged winning the battlefield. Tens of thousands of goblins fell. Post-Battle and Results The victory at Timberwatch paused the invasion of Alshar for several months. Had the human forces lost, Vorone, Tudry, and perhaps even Gilmora would have fallen in just a few short weeks time. The humans, however, were not without casualties. Horka died in his attempt to drive the dragon from the battlefield. Hesia died with her troops. Delman and Bendonal also perished. Several thousand men were killed and many more wounded. While the invasion was stopped for the time. Much of Northern Alsahr was still considered lost. The remaining Magi were knighted. Minalan was knighted by both Rard and Lenguin. The lands around the Penumbra were gifted to the new Knights Magi for the defense of the realm. The bans of magic were then permanently relaxed in both Alshar and Castal. Category:Events Category:Locations __NOEDITSECTION__ __NONEWSECTIONLINK__